Vehicle-wheel.



A. B. SIMPSON.'

VEHICLE WHEEL.

APPLIoATIoN FILED DB0. s1, 1910.

Patented Nom, 1911.

entor Attorneys.

Inv

Witnesses COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH C0.,wASmNuToN UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER B. SIMPSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

VEHICLE-WHEEL.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER B. SIMP- soN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in the borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, city andState ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inVehicle-Wheels, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to vehicle wheels, and particularly to the type ofwheel characterized by an inner rim and a movable outer rim and acushion of some kind between said rims.

Among the general object-s of my invention are the provision of a wheelof the type above-named, which is simple and rugged in construction,easy to assemble and rep-air, eliicient in operation, and which iscapable of satisfactory use when the cushioning device is inactive,without injury to said cush-` ioning device, or to any other part of thewheel.

Wy invention will be fully understood, and further objects andadvantages thereof will appear from a consideration of the embodimentsof said invention set forth in the following specification andaccompanying drawings considered together or separately.

In the drawings, Figure 1, is a side elevation, partly in the section,of a wheel having my invention embodied therein; Fig. 2 is across-section transversely and diametrically through the rim of thewheel on the line 22 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a view similar to F im 2,showing a modification.

Like parts are designated by the same reference characters throughoutthe drawings.

Referring to the drawings, the hub of the wheel is indicated at 4, thespokes at 5 and the felly at 6, said parts being of any suitable andwell-known construction. Surrounding the felly 6, andvsecured thereto inany suitable manner as by being shrunk thereon, is a U-shaped inner rim7, preferably made of sheet metal such as steel bent to the shapeindicated in the drawings. Attached to the inside of the rim 7 as shownare rings 8 and 9 which give the inner rim 7 thickened edges. The saidrings 8 and 9 may be of any suitable material, such for example assteel, fiber or aluminum, and in the embodiment of my invention shown inFig. 2 may be secured to the sides of the inner rim 7 by any suitablemeans such as screws 10. In order to permit insertion of the rings 8 and9 within the inner rim, said Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 31, 1910.

Patented Nov. 7, 1911.

Serial No. 600,291.

rings either may be cut through at some point to permit their beingsprung out, or may be made in a plurality of pieces.

The wheel is provided with an outer rim having a filling ring 12,preferably made light by being made of U-shaped cross-section as shown,and of such a size that it is capable of movement within the spacebetween the rings 8 and 9. The diametrical dimensions of said ring 12,with reference to the inner rim 7 and the rings 8 and9, is apparent fromthe drawings. The filling ring 12 may be made of any suitable material-such as aluminum, steel or wood, and said ring may either be split atsome point, as at 12, or may be made in a plurality of pieces in orderto permit assembling, as in the case of the rings 8 and 9. Suroundingthe said ring 12, and of a size to snugly coperate with the outside ofsaid ring 12, is a treadsupporting ring 13 which may be of any suitablematerial, such as aluminum, wood or steel. The ring 13 carries the tread14 of rubber or other suitable substance formed in any desired shape andsecured to the ring v13 in any suitable manner, as for example,

by being stretched and forced onto said ring. Secured to the edges ofthe ring 13 by means of bolts 15 are side plates 16 and 17 in the formof rings. The inner parts of said side plates 16 and 17 extend over aportion of .the outer sides of the inner rim 7 and slidingly coperatetherewith, and the outer parts of said side plates extend sufficientlybeyond the outer surface of the ring 13 to coperate with the edges ofthe tread 14, thereby helping to hold said tread in place. In order toproperly position the filling ring 12 and the tread-supporting ring 13with reference to one another, a spacing ring 19 is provided, as shown,between each side of the filling ring 12 and the adjacent side plate 16or 17, as shown in Fig. 2. These rings may be split to permittheir easyinsertion and removal, and if desired one of them may be replaced by alug 19 of the same shape made integral with the ring 13 as shown in Fig.3.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that, in thearrangements illustrated, the movable outer rim comprises the fillingring 12, the tread-supporting ring 13, the two spacing rings 19 or onering 19 and lug 19'), the tread 15, and the side plates 16 and 17 whichmay at any time be removed to permit disassembling of the parts.

In Fig. 1 the cushioning device is shown as comprising an elastic tube20 which, when filled with air under pressure, no matter what theposition of the outer rim, completely lls the space between the innerrim 7, the rings 8 and 9, and the filling ring 12. This tube 2O may bemade of any suitable flexible elastic material such as rubber, and isprovided with the usual pneumat-ic tire valve tube 21 which extendsinwardly through a hole in the telly.

The thickened outer edges of the inner rim 7, formed by the rings S and9, are provided with any suitable frictional material such as rubber, asshown at 28, for the purpose of providing a frictional non-slippingengagement between the thickened edges of the inner rim 7 and the outertread-supporting ring 13, when the pneumatic tube is deflated and thesaid rim 7 and ring 13 are in an engagement at the bottom of the wheel.

The arrangement illustrated in Fig. 3 differs from that shown in Fig. 2only in the pneumatic cushion. In Fig. 3, instead of a separate tube theair chamber is formed by the inner rim 7 and a sheet 20 of' flexibleelastic material such as rubber, which lies over the inner parts of therings 8 and 9 and over the inner portion of the filling ring 12 and hasits edges confined between the rings 8 and 9 and the sides of the innerrim 7, as shown in Fig. 3. /Vith this arrangement the valve tube 21,through which air under pressure is supplied to the air chamber, isattached to the inside portion of the inner rim 7 and extends throughthe felly.

It is obvious that with both of the arrangements of Figs. 2 and 3 apneumatic cushion is provided between the inner rim and the outermovable rim., and that there is no possibility of either the tube 2O orthe sheet 20 being pinched and injured while the wheel is in use. Thiswill be understood from the fact that the internal width of the innerrim member is less near the outer portion of said rim-that is betweenthe rings 8 and 9-than nearer the inner portionthat is between the sidewalls of the inner rim 7. lVith this arrangement in normal operation,and even when the tube 2O is deflated or when the pressure of' the airwithin the chamber is insuflicient to support the outer rim at its outerposition, the filling ring 12 will move within the inner rim, flexingthe middle portion of the tube 20 or the middle portion of the sheet 20,but never pinching the tube or sheet; in other words, even when thecushioning element is inoperative the wheel is still capable of usewithout injury to any of its parts.

In the preferred form of my invention 1 use the pneumatic tube shown inFig. 2, and make the rings 8 and 9, the filling ring 12, the spacingrings 19 and the tread-supporting ring 18 of aluminum, and the U-shapedinner rim 7 and the side plates 16 and 17 of steel, thereby securing astrong and at the same time light construction.

Vhile 1 have shown certain constructions in which my invention may beembodied, 1 wish it to be understood that these are only illustrativeand that my invention as defined in the appended claims may be carriedout by other arrangements.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Let ters Patent, is:

1. A vehicle wheel comprising a telly; a U-shaped one-piece inner rimhaving parallel sides secured to said telly, and rings secured to theinside of' the sides of said inner rim near the circumference thereof;an outer rim comprising a filling ring movably arranged between saidfirst-named rings, a tread supporting ring surrounding said fillingring, side plates, and bolts passing through said side plates and saidtread supporting ring for holding said side alates and said ringtogether and for holt ing said plates in sliding engagement with theoutside vof the sides of said inner rim; and elastic means for confiningair within the entire space between said inner and outer rims.

2. A vehicle wheel comprising an inner U-shaped rim having thickenededges, a filling ring movably arranged between said thickened edges, atread supporting ring surrounding said filling ring, side plates, boltspassing through said side plates and the tread-supporting ring forattaching said side plates to said ring and for holding said plates insliding engagement with the outside of said inner rim, spacing ringsbetween said lilling ring and said side plates, and an elastic pneumatictube filling the space between said inner rim and said filling ring.

This specification signed and witnessed this 29th day of December, 1910.

ALEXANDER B. SIMPSON.

Vitnesses:

HOWARD M. MORSE, J oHN L. LoTsoH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

